>> tuesday, october 30th, merc votes one week from today. and here is today's company. david webb from tea party 360.com and also, tom sullivan is here and we always love having him here this hour. first, the latest from the markets. for the first time in more than a century, the weather has closeded new york stock exchange for two straight days, but fox business's charlie gasparino told an exchange official told him it's 99% certain the market will open tomorrow. the market officials will be on a call at 10 a.m. eastern to make that determination, so we'll have that news for you. and hurricane sandy didn't stop ford from reporting earnings.

why would it? ford much better than expected profit. and costs cut and north america was phenomenal. don't forget a week away from presidential elections both candidates may bring this up between now and then and speaking of which the key swing state of ohio seems to be tilting tornado romney. and it's obviously close, but the first time romney had even a modest lead in ohio and perhaps, ads like this one, criticizing president obama's handseling of the auto industry could sway voters there. >> obama took gm and chrysler into bankruptcy, and sold chrysler to italians who are going to build jeeps in china. mitt romney will fight for every american job. charles: all right guys, ford didn't take a bailout and amazing numbers, general motors in the meantime, losing market share, bogged down by the volt, bogged down by a pension, bogged down by government interference,

i don't know. >> all of solvable exception the pension problem. they didn't go through a regular structured bankruptcy which is what romney said they could do. yeah, but governor romney there was no private finance, remember the financial markets were collapsing and yet if you read his op-ed and i did the other way, 2008 op-ed put it in restructured bankruptcy and then have government-- >> as a back stop. >> a lot of conservatives don't like that, but you can see what he was talking about. charles: it would have worked, i agree. >> and what's key tt bankruptcy, it would have lowered their labor costs and would have been a requirement in the bankruptcy they're at $80 an hour and now at 60 when the competition is 40. ford is doing better versus what chrysler is doing. look what happened with chrysler, they're in trouble and they're trying to attack romney in ohio and not working and even mother jones, overliberal mother jones says that romney is right, chrysler is going to be-- >> and here is the thing, and you hit it in the very beginning when you talked about labor costs.

when an a company is in trouble they lower their costs, but when the government intervenes, particularly when the obama administration took over this, their main objective was to keep costs high, at least to keep union costs high. >> that's the point with the pension. charles: and burdens general motors to this day which is why we're owed so much money and we're in trouble. >> what bothers me more about the fiasco, the fact that senior debt, and when ways with a in the business, make less debt, but have senior security and they ignored bankruptcy law. charles: and a lot of people, their rational, this would only hurt the fat cats and when we know this hurt a whole lot of people. >> what about the delphi investors who really lost on this one. let's take a look what they did in the gm bankruptcy, it's another case of sub bosub board nating one group. and board says, off shore

earnings and makes sense they would not issue their earnings when the markets are closed. you would think they would wait until the market is open. does that mean that ford had, as you said, a good reason to issue them because they were so good. does that mean that people that are issuing them maybe are under what was estimated? >> you know what? burger king reported yesterday what i thought was a mixed number. so to your point, maybe, maybe, this is been-- by the way on that note, guys, this has been the worst earnings season in 15 years looking at the top line. so, maybe these other conditions falling into that. and even ford missed the top line by a small percent. and what they did in north america, phenomenal and has political implications. and next the latest on sandy from accuweather, how bad is it, and even one of president obama's main rivals says he's doing a good job handling the storm. will this help him next tuesday. [ engine revving ]

♪ [ male announcer ] every car we build must make adrenaline pump and pulses quicken. ♪ to help you not just to stay alive but feel alive. the new c-class is no exception. it's a mercedes-benz, through and through. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. >> announcer: you never know when, but thieves can steal your identity and turn your life upside down. >> hi. >> hi. you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> you just read my mind. >> announcer: just one little piece of information and they can open bogus accounts, stealing your credit, your money and ruining your reputation. that's why you need lifelock to relentlessly protect what matters most...

[beeping...] helping stop crooks before your identity is attacked. and now you can have the most comprehensive identity theft protection available today... lifelock ultimate. so for protection you just can't get anywhere else, get lifelock ultimate. >> i didn't know how serious identity theft was until i lost my credit and eventually i lost my home. >> announcer: credit monitoring is not enough, because it tells you after the fact, sometimes as much as 30 days later. with lifelock, as soon as our network spots a threat to your identity, you'll get a proactive risk alert, protecting you before you become a victim. >> identity theft was a huge, huge problem for me and it's gone away because of lifelock. >> announcer: while no one can stop all identity theft, if criminals do steal your information, lifelock will help fix it, with our $1 million service guarantee. don't wait until you become the next victim. you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock now to get two full months of identity theft protection risk free.

that's right, 60 days risk-free. use promo code: gethelp. if you're not completely satisfied, notify lifelock and you won't pay a cent. order now and also get this shredder to keep your documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 dollar value, free. get protected now. call the number on your screen or go to lifelock.com to try lifelock protection risk free for a full 60 days. use promo code: gethelp. plus get this document shredder free-- but only if you act right now. call the number on your screen now! >> all right. let's get the latest on sandy's track from accuweather's adrian green. where is it now and what can people expect? >> well, the center of sandy is situated over central pennsylvania and going to continue to lift further to the north and sandy well inland and

combining with a very cold storm and you can see the massiveness of the system and stretching from canada into the southeast and cold air has arrived across the southeast, compliments of sandy. in fact, it's colder in florida right now than in maine and we'll see more rain across portions of the north's and some of the steadiest rain across the mid atlantic and even parts of western pennsylvania and getting in on heavy rain here and we're going to continue to see that as we head right on in through the rest of the the morning hours and we also have the cold side of the storm here across the ohio valley and back into the higher elevations in the appalachians where some folks have been inundated with the snow. in fact, in western maryland in garrett county, they've picked up two feet of snow and the main arteries, i-68 does remain closed and we're going to continue to see more problems through the rest of the day, more drenching rain and snow down the side of appalachians and the windy conditions gusting the at times to 30 to 40 miles

per hour, though the worst of the storm is certainly over, we've got a lot of cleanup to do and still going to be dealing with some impacts here from san da, back to you. >> adrian before i let you go, the tides on the east coast, are they going to recede? >> they should be receding as the day wears on as sandy continues to the north, and we'll see the tides really go down the next day or so, and we certainly are going to see some lower water, especially across the hudson and even down along the coast of the jersey shore. charles: okay, we need he it. thank you, adrian. adam shapiro is tracking the power outages, adam, what's the latest totals. >> well, it depends where you're adding it up. it's over 6 million people without electricity that's as far south as washington d.c., parts of virginia, over to akron, cleveland, ohio area, they've lost power, that's because of snow. west virginia they have lost power, but the hard numbers, the greatest majority of people, and right here in the new jersey, new york, connecticut area, want

to go through some of the numbers right now where i believe we have a full screen and we can pull up to show people and jersey central power and light. 944,000 people without electricity. atlantic city electric, 180,000 without electricity and con-edison serves manhattan and westchester county and some of the boroughs, 695,000 people without electricity. long island power authority. 909,000 without power. connecticut light and power, over 400,000 and pl and e, over 1 million, 1.2 million, in fact their vice-president of electric operations, a person by the name of john, said the previous record for outage was 200,000 by hurricane irene 2011 quote the largest storm related outage in our history and again, 1.2

million, pl and without electricity at this hour and we're going to keep following this for you, they had 25,000 power crews on stand by that they brought in according to pepco, the utility in washington d.c. and 25,000 men and women additional force flown in from mexico, canada, and washington state poise today dispatch the crews. charles: it's a herculean effort or a herculean task. a lot of people without power, thanks, adam. >> you've got it. charles: joining us a spokeman for con-ed, the utility company in new york city, alfonso, can you fill us in on how things are looking. >> sure thing. the updated number for people in new york city and westchester county and that number is actually 729,000 customers out throughout new york city and westchester county and we're looking at about, in manhattan, where the bulk of them are at at

this point, 240,000 customers out. charles: alfonso, how does con edison assess where to go initially, to to help initially, is there a system for figuring out priorities? because i'm sure you're inundated with calls and everybody calling things that their emergency is the top one on the list. >> well, the first thing that we have to do now is now that the storm is settling down, is to send out damage assessors, what they do, try to find out where the damage is, how bad it is and how we can actually go by attacking the outage. and then, what we will do, we'll find the equipment that serves the most customers and make those repairs first and then move out west. charles: is it too early to make assessment how long-- everybody understands you guys have a difficult job. as each day goes on without power, the public respect of this doesn't shine brightly on con-ed or any utility company.

is it too early to assess how long it will take everybody to get up and running. >> certainly. this certainly is our charter territory and the restoration is a major, major undertaking on our behalf and i wouldn't be surprised if people are still out in a week's time. charles: i've been reading because it involves, last time we had a big event, it was wind and trees and snow, but this involves sea water or salt water. does that really change the dynamics of your job and how you guys go about getting this fixed? >> well, sandy attacked us on two fronts, the winds really took a beating on staten island and westchester counties where we have overhead wires and obviously they took down trees that tropped on to wires and then the sea water was the second component on the attack, what happened is the sea water got into our equipment and it could have and probably short circuited a lot of our equipment in manhattan. and we also had a huge explosion

on, in one of our substations after a piece of equipment in one of our substations on 14th and the east river. when that happened, that knocked out about 250,000 customers in the blink of an eye in eye j w know you have a job and good luck with everything. >> thank you, charles. charles: and political politics, put aside and leadership becomes important. this morning on fox and friends, chris christie, the republican governor, praising president obama. >> and at 2 a.m. i got a call from fema and signed a couple of declarations, and give credit to the president, on the phone with me, three times, and anything i've asked for and i thank the president publicly for that he's done as far as i'm concerned a great job for new jersey.

charles: of course, chris christie is known as a straight shooter and argue that president obama has looked presidential during the storm so far, what do you think, david? >> well, all he has to do is do his job and it's not going to help or hurt him i think on the political front, it's a matter of just appearing that i've taken care of whatever the states have asked me to do. fema will have to do their responsibilities and we'll see how that plays out over the days. >> it plays for governor romney. both of these guys, you cannot ignore a fact a week from today is the election. charles: right. >> so, he has to do everything he can -- well, the president has to do everything he has to do. charles: how does it help romney. >> criticize iffed he doesn't do his job. he's criticized if he does too much and make it look political. romney is going, i just have to not make it look political right now. >> romney has to focus on what he needs to do for the campaign. this isn't a political situation, this is an american situation, the storm is hurting americans, no matter what their party affiliation, the president

has a responsibility as president of the united states, which means, communicate with your governors, you know, people are going to argue whether it hurts or helps him. what matters is the campaign and the final seven days leading into it is going to be how their ground game. charles: but the point is though, david, the president does look like he's doing that job and walking the fine line, being presidential, being attentive, seeming like he cares, responding to any need for help and he talked about cutting ow the red tape and seems like he said everything right so far. >> he's said everything right, but let's realize that it's the governors in charge and they're the ones that invite the federal government in. they're the ones that working it. chris christie is right yesterday said he talked to the president one-on-one and would talk to him again. governors doing their jobs, it doesn't help or hurt. i think it just moves along with no incidents. >> but you could easily make a mistake and that's where they have to be careful. charles: right, absolutely. >> could make it political-- >> and by the way, someone is

making it political. former president bill clinton actually warning about what will happen if mitt romney is elected. now, he was in connecticut campaigning for chris murphy running for senate against linda mcmahon in a hotly contested race there. here is what clinton actually said on sunday, quote, we're coming down to the 11th hour, we're facing a violent storm. it's nothing compared to the storm we'll face if you don't make the right decision in this election. so, you know, actually saying, bringing on romney as president of the united states will be more devastating than the full wrath of mother nature. >> yeah, but clinton can do that, he can be the attack dog and pit bull and do those things, but romney and obama can't say those things. >> i agree. clinton is going to be who he is. joe biden can't go out there and do it, he's the acting, now current vice-president, but bill clinton can play the fear game. this problem is the institutional left. they are looking at an election

swinging tornadwards romney. charles: bill clinton is considered. >> considered a moderate. he only did what he had to do in office, to stay in office. 's he a political animal and his policies are more left than people call it as a moderate. charles: we'll leave it there for now. new at ten, it turns out stuart may be right. if the bipartisan battle ground poll shows that mitt romney could pull off a victory next week, at the top of the hour we'll tell you exactly how much of the vote he could get. and also right now, let's go to sandra smith, she's at the cme in chicago, and sandra there's actually trading going on today and of course we're following oil and gold and gas closely because of the refineries, shut down due to the hurricane. all of this, what are you hearing? >> from the energy department. crude oil prices getting a pop right now. and back off near $86 a barrel and while gasoline prices which

rose yesterday in anticipation of those refinery closures, they're sort of flat, going back down in today's session. and the energy department saying that u.s. gasoline supplies, along the u.s. east coast, may sink, charles, to their lowest levels since at least 1990's and those refineries if they can't curb production, some of them shut production altogether and also, charles out, important for traders to keep in mind, energy department saying they're delaying the weekly inventory report and remember, that's usually a market moving event like things for oil and gasoline on wednesday morning and they're saying it could be published nurse, but that day still depending on the storm damage and charles, at this point, assessing the damage and six refineries were closed along the east coast, and that was about two-thirds of overall production, so, we're still assessing the damage and still trying to see how that's going to work out in the markets this morning, although oil is back up just a little bit this morning. charles: thanks a lot. quick, david, you're saying--

>> this is with trucking and if prices rise there's a component to that diesel and gasoline. charles: speaking of prices, the damage starts to get assessed today. we'll hear a whole lot on the numbers of the true financial cost of hurricane sandy. we'll look at how much it's going to cost us, we know it's going to be a whopper, that's next. scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

>> breaking news from the new york stock exchange, which is on your screen right there, boarded up. officials there saying there's been no damage to the trading headquarters, in lower manhattan that would quote, impair trading floor operations. as of now, we were told you earlier that market officials are conducting a call at 10 a.m. eastern to determine if the markets will be open tomorrow. now, the worst of the storm is over, at least on the east coast and now, is the time to assess the damage and start the business. and joining us from forensic weather consultants, howard, first, you know, a whole lot of

of numbers being tossed around on just how expensive this storm will be. what's your call? >> in the billions, yeah. there's no doubt it's going to be well into the billions of dollars. the flooding is probably going to be the biggest culprit here. lots of structural damage, not only from the storm surge, but also parts of new jersey seeing river flooding and reservoir flooding and then we have the loss of business that's occurring, look at new york stock exchange is closed two days in a row, which hasn't happened since 1888. a huge, huge monetary hit for the united states, but especially the tri state area. charles: howard, because this storm as opposed to the last big weather venture at least on the east coast, flooding versus wind. which one is easier to rehe solve? which one gets the money? because i know, it feels like the wind issue hung up a whole lot of rebuilding or the rebuilding process. >> yeah, you know, my company is forensic weather consultants and

i've worked on a lot of hurricane related cases, katrina, hurricane wilma and ike, for the insurance companies, and also, for the attorneys and home owners pan one thing that is most difficult is the flood insurance, and when most people buy home owners insurance policy it covers wind and that alone doesn't cover flood. so, place that is didn't have flood insurance may not be able to collect from their insurance policy. so, it's much easier to collect and get insurance coverage for wind storm related events. even though, a lot of the insurance companies have what they call a wind storm deductible, which means, whether it's a named storm such as a hurricane, when it makes landfall or not, will determine what percentage of the deductible, the home owner has to pay. >> and howard, tom sullivan here, you jumped on point i was going to make about how flood insurance is, two parts about it, one, i used to have a home

years ago, that was in a flood plain, designated as such. so, i had to have flood insurance, but even that, the flood insurance was minimal, it barely covered anything, if you really got some damage and for people who don't live in a flood plain, do they really have flood insurance? >> yeah, that's the thing. you know? they look at like a hundred year storm or what have you as a baseline. if you're in the flood plain, that is one of the biggest records of storm surge in many areas, and including downtown plan hant. and who knows what's going to happen. i suspect i'll get calls from the insurance companies and attorneys representing home owners and the insurance companies. there's going to be a lot of conflicts and lawsuits, i think, in regards to hurricane insurance claim and to the point where wind damage does-- does damage, the hurricane center changed and changed the form of hurricane sandy to a

post tropical storm sandy. post tropical cyclone sandy before landfall and may affect the hurricane deductibles and what a home owner has to hey versus what an insurance company. that's going to be an arguing point down the road. >> howard, it feels like there's always a twist to all of this, never a straight thing, you have your handfall. i appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. charles: now even some liberal hollywood elites are changing their tune on president obama. director oliver stone says president obama made a bad situation even worse. we're going to explain. i love you, james. don't you love me? i'm a robot. i know. i know you're a robot! but there's more in you than just circuits and wires! uhhh. (cries) a machine can't give you what a person can.

that's why ally has knowledgeable people there for you, night and day. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

>> breaking news, we're awaiting a news conference from new york city mayor mike bloomberg and the city is virtually shut down right now and he's expected to speak at the top of the hour and what he does, we'll bring it to you. right now we've got more news for you, we're following the crane that collapsed in midtown manhattan yesterday and looks like it's hanging, literally, blowing in the wind and it looked extraordinarily vulnerable at this point. and you know, guys, you can see this thing, 57thth street across the street from carnegie hall

and i read recently they sold an apartment, the most expensive in mankind or at least in america, 100 million dollars and it's crazying, it's a scary thing in the middle of the manhattan. the heart of manhattan. >> they are he' going to have to build another crane to go up to take the other crane apart. and fix that thing. this is going to take weeks at the minimal. >> and it's unfortunate, this is what happens in a city like this, a lot of skyscrapers. the concerns are, what happens when winds weaken the base of this, the base of these cranes. again, this unfortunately is also a health, a safety issue because when the city reopens, people need to transit that area. charles: but to tom's point if you've got to go to 57th street forget it for a long time. the question, there could have been something betterment we know they couldn't have dismantled the crane, but oranges toss make it safer. >> for people that don't know new york city, 57 street is one of the major cross streets, it's

a lot of traffic and noi that your unit there, i know that the average is 10 million dollars a condo, the average, i'm sure you'll be okay. charles: i think it was one of the sultans of qatar wanted to move into another building 90 million for that so apparently picked up a building, an apartment there, in fact, that might be the one they're working on now. this is serious stuff, guys, this crane is scary, scary and obviously we've got a camera on it. >> they shut down a luxury hotel must be be the ritz or-- >> the ritz carlton is not too far. >> they had to shut it down right next. charles: and across the street from carnegie hall. we'll get an update on the crane and the rest at the top of the hour. stay with us. mbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the marke he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees.

so he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade. oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. y, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking.

you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners.

♪ >> the images are dramatic. a tree fell on electrical wires in queens, new york, sparking a fire that's engulfed an entire neighborhood and check out the water, this is the brooklyn battery tunnel it connects brooklyn to lower manhattan. it's underwater and we're awaiting a news conference from new york city mayor mike bloo bloomberg, when he starts to talk we'll bring it to you. and the presidential election

that would produce a romney win. stuart is out for a previous assignment. we have e-mac in the house and david asman for the entire hour. now we want to start with the latest on the aftermath of hurricane sandy. we have jeff flock at point pleasant beach in new jersey and ric rich edson we'll start with you, jeff. >> as we get out here and the sun comes up. it's angry, but nothing like what it was yesterday. i'll tell you, the surge on this storm was just, just incredible and you know, they talk about power lines down and this is actually a cable line here, i can touch this although the power is out everywhere and that's one of the the power lines here, but look at the the sand. there is sand in the streets of pretty much every street here along the beach in point pleasant beach and i tell you, maybe get a chance to run over here, and pardon the wind on the microphone a little bit if you

can. but take a look. these homes just got washed through and i'll back up so the wind doesn't hit my microphone, the surf just came in, washington in, buried the houses and just blew through. i'm looking through here, and i tell you, it's nothing, but sand and the furniture jumbled up, just washed through into the window, and drifted the sand all over. and it's an incredible mess out here and what can i tell you? it's going to be a long cleanup. charles: it certainly is. jeff, you've done a remarkable job. thanks a lot. now to rich edson. we saw pictures of sand bags being placed in front of the white house, how is d.c.? >> there is damage in isolated areas, you have trees that destroyed houses and flooding that evacuated folks. a few hundred thousand people without power. for the most part, d.c. is slowly returning back to normal. two o'clock this afternoon, the metro system, mass transit. rail and bus will run a limited

schedule and then tomorrow, metro says, they will run a normal schedule, which has a huge bearing on whether or not the federal government is going to be open tomorrow. in fact, charles, we saw a tweet from d-dot, the district department of transportation reporting one total traffic light out a few hours ago and no subsequent information from that. so the major arteries in and out of the city are reportedly all set from the folks that we have coming into the bureau today and say getting in for the most part hasn't been a problem. >> rich, thanks very much. appreciate it. >> also this hour, market officials are currently on a call discussing whether to open the markets tomorrow. when that news comes out. we will of course bring it to you directly and we're following the developments with the that crane dangling hundreds of feet above lower manhattan and midtown manhattan and 57th street and company i want to talk to you about this, it's precarious and ominous, scary and it's crazy because i don't know that had to happen. >> i was there, i was actually headed home and watched the recovery and the firemen have

blocked off streets all around and it looked like it virtually cracked in half and started sending in file reports to fox business and putting the images on camera with david asman's show and liz claman's show as well. what was terrifying here, it was aimed around the area around carnegie hall, a luxury condo 157th where the top penthouse went for a reported 90 million dollars supposed to reach 90 stories and this is around the 75th story, so when you saw it it virtually looked like it cracked in half. >> you know what's extraordinary for all the damage we've seen and people injured and displaced, it's amazing how miracle survival stories. this thing is dangling and a public hazard, but it could have fallen down and hurt if not killed people. and we think that the evacuations at nyu hospital. charles: and the ambulances came this morning and took the patience out. >> including, by the way, 20 neo

natal cases, 20 little babies in intensive care and operated, brought out in the incubators under their own battery power and it's extraordinary how successful they are. >> and it's important to shut down the streets so make it clear to evacuate. charles: and here is the thing, guys, i couldn't sleep last night and i stayed in a hotel two blocks from here, every time i looked out the window and it wasn't raining-- there will be some criticism that maybe the city overreacted? >> i don't think so at all. at everybody has been saying from governor christie to mayor bloomberg, it's maybe better to seem historical if in the end if you save life. think of breezy point queens where the awful fires are, 50 to 60 homes that have been destroyed. >> concerned right now-- >> might be better to be cautious than anything else. >> i've got families with housen breeziy point, i can't get a hold of. and my sister's in-laws.

>> they've evacuated. >> ill a keep you posted on this as well. charles: i agree with you, much better than safe than sorry. and we've a got a guy to help us former fema director mike brown. from katrina to natural disasters like this, where do we go from here? >> good morning, i was talking for a producer for one of your colleagues and expressing frustration of getting around and people without power and the frustration level will begin to rise as you have almost 7 million people in that region without power and take several days if not a week or so to restore power and that's going to have an economic impact. a social impact. people are going to get frustrated and i encourage people to just kind of chill out over this whole situation. charles: all right, so, when you say chill out, i'm not sure exactly. what do you mean when you say chill out? >> well, to recognize, for

example, i mean i don't know what your personal situation is, charles, but some people in lower manhattan that live in one of the high rises down there may not have power for five days or six days, it just depends how long it takes for power, con-ed and the other utilities to get service turned back on and people have to realize that the utility workers, the construction workers, are going to be working as hard and as fast as they can, but it just takes time. charles: right. >> if you're the guy the at the end of the line, you're the guy at the end of the line and there's nothing you can do about it. and so-- >>. >> michael, i've got to tell you you're talking to new yorkers, we've been through this before in these crisis going back to 9/11. so i think new yorkers more than anybody are accustomed to working with the folks who know how to turn off the gas lines, et cetera so we've been through that. my question though, new york is an island as you well know. most of the tunnels and most of the bridges leading into and coming out of manhattan have been closed.

it is vital to get those tunnels open again, what does that happen? >> i think it may take about-- i don't know, i've heard, for example, the path station has several feet of water in it, they have to first get the water out before they check to see what damage there is, and power restored, that could take up to 24 hours or longer to do so, and i think that's going to drive people nuts, the inability to get in and out of the city, the inability to get things back up and running and going to have an economic impact and like i say a social impact, people are going to get frustrated and start trying to take cars in and a couple of the tunnels are flooded. it's going to take time and people have to recognize one thing, those people are working as hard and fast as they can to fix that situation. charles: and mike, that gets us back to what you said, chill out, let the system take care of itself and you know what? it might be the best advice i've heard all week. thanks a lot, we appreciate it. >> you betcha. charles: we're awaiting new york city mayor mike bloomberg to

begin his news conference. when it does we'll bring it to you live. now, we're going to switch to the election, president obama, well, he took virginia in 2008, but you know, signs are starting to point to governor romney taking that battle ground state in this election. the latest fox news poll shows romney leads the president 47-45 in virginia. and joining us now, fox news contributor, of 2012, pete snyder. and what are your polls and your internal polls showing you guys in virginia? >> charles, we feel very good right now. and that said, we have a week to go. sandy has hit virginia fairly hard. we have about 200,000 people without power, if not more, including the snyder house old in fairfax county. so we're focused on taking care of our friends and neighbors right now. and that said, for the past four years we've built the largest grass roots army in the history of virginia and had electoral

success over the past three years and going to culminate next tuesday. charles: are you confident? it sounds like you're confident. are you confident enough then to sorts of shift or marshal your forces from virginia to the ohio, which seems like the last state standing in the state that can ultimately make a decision has as to who occupies the white house. >> charles, absolutely not. look, this thing is going to be tight. we feel good right now, but i'm going to wake up on election day pretty excited, but with a knot in my stomach the size of a fabl.fab football. we need to run through the finish line and we're counting on a very late night on tuesday night of next week, the democrats, president obama did very, very well in virginia, won by 6 points, so, they're known for their ground operation, and we need every single one of our tens of thousands of volunteers to continue to work really hard over the next couple days for

this final week so that we can bring virginia back in the red column and deliver the country for george allen in the senate and also, romney-ryan at the top of the ticket. >> liz macdonald here. what level of importance is are candidates putting on the friday jobs report, the last report coming out before the election. >> liz, i don't think very much. i think at this point in time this pie is already baked. if you look across the country, probably about 1/3 of the voters out there have voted so far. and really, we've seen a seismic shift in public opinion and also enthusiasm, ever since that first debate in early october. when 80 million americans got to see governor romney stand toe to toe with barack obama without a net and really without the filter of the liberal media and they saw his economic plan, they heard him articulate his path for energy independence for america, and they saw barack obama for the first time in

months without a teleprompter. and they realized the emporer really has no clothes. so, we have great enthusiasm in virginia right now. charles: i think you'll like that. we'll leave it right there, okay? pete snyder, thank you very much. >> thanks, charles, thanks, liz. charles: mitt romney by 5 points, that's the prediction from the battle ground poll. romney 52, president obama 47. now, it's a little different than most polls, it does straighten polling, but the adjustments for the numbers variables, how many define-- definitive voters are going to be out there. it's one of the the polls, guys, a lot of people think it's bipartisan, in order not skewed either way. >> affiliated with george washington university, politico.com. charles: exactly, it's a battle ground poll. >> another poll extraordinary the most extraordinary poll i've ever seen, the national public radio which makes the new york times look like it's fair and balanced, and because they are

so in the bag for president obama now has romney in the lead the first time it's ever happened, an npr poll has romney in the lead just by one point, it's within the margin of error, but the fact is that, this momentum that could work against romney in the short run. we only have a couple of days, we have one week before the election and if in fact the republicans begin to get too cocky because of these polls, it might lower the turnout for the republicans, but it is extraordinary, that npr has a poll saying that romney is ahead. >> what's amazing about the poll you're citing 59% of independents are now for romney and a majority of the middle class for mitt romney and 37% of the voters polled believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. it's a striking result coming out of this pretty bipartisan poll. charles: it really is and i think you know what, when they do the history on this thing and romney wins, wait he was able it shift women and independents so late in the game is absolutely

remarkable. >> although there is a question, again, as to how the polling has been conducted over the past several months and i don't want to go over old territory, we know the story, but, listening to dick morris who was saying the other night on fox news, that in fact, when this is over, it may be so skewed that we wonder why we ever believe some of the early polls showing president obama ahead by 10 points or in that-- >> the same polls have romney ahead now and i think it might have been-- not by that extraordinary more begin. charles: a lot had to do with the polling. if you have 12% more democrats than you're asking, that it's going to be overskewed. less the less ton learned. joining us right now on the phone, marty marcos, brooklyn borough president. how your borough holding up? >> well, i mean, obviously, hundreds and hundreds of homes that basements have totally flooded and streets slowly receding in terms of the water and the he have trees, needless to say the borough of trees is what brooklyn is known for

certainly has a lot less trees this morning. and so, different emergency groups are out there cutting up those trees and cleaning up the highway as well as the secondary streets. so, it's a mess is the best way to put it. charles: it's a mess, marty, but you feel to feel good about everything, all things said and done. i haven't heard of any fatalities in your boroughs, it looks like-- >> we did hear of one, i can't confirm it, a gentleman in the 18th street found under a huge tree this morning, that's the report my office is sharing with you, beyond that, which is a tragedy, thank god we came out basically with very few-- one fatality perhaps and few injuries, having said that it's devastating. charles: it's devastating and we cannot minimize that, but i do want to ask, do you think this is a great example of a cooperation where the public

listened carefully to officials and heeded the call? >> well, i think a significant portion of the population heeded the call. but, there were quite a few that decided to stay in place and while i -- why i joined with the mayor and governor to heed the caution, i understand why some people toughed it out where they live and i understand and-- >> of course, marty, we're talking about brooklyners, right? and-- >> they've got a way of-- >> in america, of course, they're going to tough it up, right? >> let me put it this way they've got an attitude. anyway, the good news, now the focus is on the cleanup and getting the trains and electricity back on because tens of thousands of families, there's no electricity on the southern end of brooklyn, so, that's really devastating and so, it's going to take days to get us back to normal life,

but-- >> marty, how about trucks come in and out of vitals like water and fuel, et cetera? what do you expect those path ways to be open? >> well, the mayor is going to have the press conference momentarily and i'm hoping they'll have it, obviously, many of the stores are not open and even if they open, they have nothing to offer and if you can't get delivery, we're putting people, residents in peril. so we've got to get the roadways open asap and get the deliveries in and stores open and public transportation may not be restored for when, i don't know, a couple of days i hope and fear no longer than that, but still we've got to get the city working together and get the kids back to school so this is he' loads of stuff that has to be done. people back with their electricity. charles: what did you say, marty, we had the former fema director mike brown on earlier and he said his message would be chill out. in other words, if everyone would take it easy and things obviously won't happen as fast as anyone wants them to, but

ultimately, they'll happen. is that the message that needs be to be explained to most new yorkers now? >> we're in this together and we have faced challenges before and overcome all and we'll continue to overcome them. i mean, listen, you know, unfortunately, in life, we have exciting, wonderful, beautiful things happen to us in the time and it's tragedies and the events like this, and my heart goes out to those folks at breezy point where, you know, more than 50 homes destroyed, overly-- and life is very challenging for those folks in breezy point and we pray for them and keep them in our players. charles: heamarty, very brave ws and we concur and agree with you as well. >> thank you. charles: and good luck to everyone out there, we appreciate it. you know, guys, it's great to have him on the phone like that, and you know, i think this was a success in the sense that-- it feels like everyone sort of

did listen this time, not everyone, but so many more people, now, paid attention and took a precautionly-- >> it's almost like hurricane irene prepared us and 9/11 prepared us, we're new yorkers and we'll pull through. >> i've got good news, too, two-thirds of the east coast refining capacity was shut down as a result of the the storm and a lot of it is focused on just one town, linden, new jersey, a lot of pipelines and refineries are based. apparently all of those have escaped without major damage so that's good news because that could involve all of those and could drive up gas prices if in fact those were damaged. it appears again, those he refineries are not the damaged. >> i should also say that new jersey is tough, too. >> absolutely. charles: on the refineries, that's one of the reason that new jersey has such, well, the cheapest gas or-- >> because they don't have the taxes and that's another story. >> that's a whole other story. and as soon as i said taxes i felt the heat on my right-hand

side. and we've got andrew napolitano with us now. >> 88 cents a gallon, state and federal. >> in new york. >> you're right in new york and california, new jersey 30 cents cheaper. those are the two highest, california and new york, and california forget about trejigger the whole environment out there. >> and you're sort after critic of government. how do you feel that government handled the situation? >> now, funny you should say that because i was thinking about that as i was watching governor christie and while people may not always agree with his politics or even agree with his over the top style, i mean, he is the human being in whose hands the law has reposed the authority to make these very difficult decisions and he is making them. and he does have the assets and the resources with which to save human lives and he's using those assets and resources. and in this age we have given to

the government the power that once belonged to family and neighborhoods and communities, either we live closer together and we're so big and we're so reliant on government that this is the way we do it today. and i think that chris christie is doing about as good a job as a human being can possibly do and if you look the at him, looks like he hasn't slept in the last 48 hours, but feel sorry for him, but trust him to make the right decision. >> and the government, every time i looked outside my apartment building and saw that crane hanging and swaying in the wind, the arc of that crane moved about 60 or 75 feet and every time it moved, it added stress to the metal joint that was holding it, you can see what i'm doing with my finger and came millimeters closer to falling because the government cannot always keep us safe, that crane was inspected by city inspectors on friday and this

happened on monday. i don't know what the solution is, but it's not the city inspector-- >> to drop the ball every time-- >> hold on a second, judge, this is a hundred year storm, come on, you've got to expect something like this to happen and in deference to those folks trying to keep people safe, the area around this was cordoned off and elizabeth mcdonald saw it when it was happening. >> i was there. >> i was, too. >> and they're doing everything to keep people safe after it happened and should have done things to kept it safe before it happened. >> and judge, are you saying perhaps we're giving so much of what we're doing ourselves, we're giving that away, that responsibility away that if the government doesn't do it, then we all fall short. >> if that crane falls, that the inspector doesn't lose a nickel. if the person in charge of doing the inspection could lose assets because of the failure of the

inspection they'll do a better job. stated differently, if this were done by insurance companies that would insurance the public or the government rather than insurance the owners they'd do a much better job than crane inspectors who couldn't be sued for doing a lousy job and punished-- >> that was getting a lot of complaints from locals. >> and bottom line you're talking about bringing back accountability. >> right. charles: judge stay there. >> i don't think we're going to see that from the government. . charles: you know what? we're not going to see it from the government. to your point we don't see it from our teachers and elected officials and certainly wasn't for-- >> and for heavens sake, governor christie, don't cancel halloween. . [laughter] >> now what? >> and i don't want my kid running around in the dark looking for candy j hey, guys, we're still waiting for mayor bloomberg to speak about the state of new york city. we are going to be right back

after this. are we there yet?

are we there yet? are we there yet? [ male announcer ] it's the question we ask ourselves every day. is it the safest, the most efficient? the kind of vehicle to move not just people... but an industry forward? are we there yet? are we really? [ male announcer ] are we there yet? we are, for now. introducing the all-new seven passenger gl. motor trend's 2013 sport utility of the year. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 after that, it's on to germany. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 then tonight, i'm trading 9500 miles away in japan. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with the new global account from schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i hunt down opportunities around the world

tdd#: 1-800-345-50 as if i'm right there. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i'm in total control because i can trade tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 directly online in 12 markets in their local currencies. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i use their global research to get an edge. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 their equity ratings show me how schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 rates specific foreign stocks tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 based on things like fundamentals, momentum and risk. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i also have access to independent tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 firms like ned davis research tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and economist intelligence unit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus, i can talk to their global specialists 24/7. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and trade in my global account commission-free tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 through march 20. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 best part... no jet lag. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-866-294-5409 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and a global specialist tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 will help you get started today.

>> breaking news, new jersey governor chris christie is addressing reporters, let's listen in. >> in the middle of the state highways. >> [inaudible]

. >> yeah, it's gone, it sped up, as i said last night at the evening, at the evening briefing, it double its speed from when we were with you earlier in the afternoon till the evening for 14 miles per hour, it was moving to 28 miles per hour. and that helped. it would have been worse, believe it or not, if it lingered it would have been worse because we avoided the storm being here during the high tide last night. so, it's coming out early was actually the only break i think we caught in all this, so, yeah, it moved through much more quickly which will be good, mike, allows me to get up today and assess the damage and allows for the utility companies to go out and assess damages and make plans for how they're going to put the jigsaw puzzle back together. yeah. and oyster creek is fine. and what happened was, you had

some downed wires and lines there that forced jcp and l shut down power and supply into oyster creek and we had to go through the normal correction, but i've been assured by bpu and dp that we'll get things back relative quickly. >> yeah, first of all, it's been a pretty stable team, john, you know? from that perspective the folks you see behind me and the senior staff while some have slightly different positions they were around in october and kevin is the chief of staff now, he was here as the deputy chief council and mckenna was the chief council ahomeland security

director. and there's a certain continuity to the team which helped. we know how to stay in our own lanes and get our jobs done and also work as a team. and i think it's-- the biggest things we've learned about communications, both communication for the public as we're doing now, but just as importantly communication to the county and local oem's to get as much information as quicklies we can possibly get it so we can deploy resources to them and try to stop disasters before they get worse. so i think one of the things we've learned was, it's not good enough just for us to wait for them to call us. so, like last night, we had and this morning, the state police here at oem and calling out to all 21 of the county oem's, what's going on and the latest information and three biggest problems and three biggest needs. what, you know, what are your three biggest recovery issues.

and so, that gave us a perspective on where things were in each county. and so, i think we learned that. as far as i'm holding up, you know, i'm still sick. which is no fun. and i got about two hour's sleep last night. you know, every time i fell asleep someone woke me up. so, you know, the president woke me up one time, which was fine, he gets to. and then i got woken up by fema at 2 a.m., and i got woken up by a text from charl mckenna at 3 a.m. and by that time there was no going back to sleep. >> [inaudible] >> you know, it's a significant presence already here and has been since we opened up the rock for this incident and i expect they're going to have a major presence here.

we'll be working with them now to start to layout the plans for damage assessment. that's the next step and then we layout a plan for how we recover. so, i expect fema to be a major, you know, a major force here over the next number of months, and that's what we're really talking about, i mean, we're talking months, to recover from this. this. >> [inaudible] >> it's too early to tell --. >> all right. that's governor chris christie of new jersey, and joining us on the phone is lt. governor. lt. governor, chris christie obviously looks likes a guy whose he been in a serious fight for a couple of days here, but new jersey seems to be holding up pretty well. how is delaware holding up? >> we're holding up well under the circumstances as well. our governor has not gotten a lot of sleep either, but as

governor christie said, it's not great here, but it certainly could have been lot worse. charles: what are some of the the things we should know about the state of delaware and some things you've gone through and some things you want the viewers to understand right now? >> well, we've-- we've lifted the driving restrictions that we have. we have a driving warning in place, we don't want people to be out if they don't have to be. we have about 40,000 people without power, but our electric companies are doing a good job trying to get folks back up and running and the fact that the wind aren't as bad as they might have been has been helpful. and we have flooding down in the coa coastal area and the governor and i are on the way down there trying to get a look at that. >> is it too early to make a judgment as to when things may be chose to normal? >> well, what the governor did in the elective order, to give our local authorities in the areadiscretion, when it's

staff for people to return. and in the low lying area, people cooperated very, develop well and solved problems that we otherwise would have had and now we're deferring an awful lot to the judgment of emergency responders and local officials in terms of when it's safe to come back. >> he no, i do find it interesting, and this is a recurring theme where it feels like people, citizens, paid so much more attention to officials and you just talked about their cooperation. does it surprise you how well people handle this, just the average citizens out there? >> well, you know, we had a hurricane just last year and i think that people saw in that event that the evacuation order the governor issued then was pretty precise in retrospect and well-founded and issued one this time for a lot of the same areas and people knew they wouldn't have done it without good cause and why we had such a good cooperation rate and again, had they not evacuated, things would have been an awful lot worse, we had an awful lot of flooding in that area.

>> lt. governor, good luck with everything and appreciate you taking out the time. >> thank you. charles: let's go now to sandra smith at the cme in chicago, you're watching oil and gas very closely in part because of the refinery shut downs due to the hurricane. what are you hearing now? >> about two-thirds of the refiners were shut down along the u.s. east coast yesterday. that was a precautionary pressure. now they're assessing the real damage and as that happens, crude oil prices are actually up today. shy of $86 a barrel and traders are back in operation today trading in all the energy markets today are electronic today. no nymex floor trading, but we have electronic trading in the markets and charles the important stuff to get out here to the energy watchers, the energy department says may sink to the lowest level to 1990 since the storm. inventories they say are down 16% from year ago levels according to the energy department and also, charles the weekly inventory report that we usually get out on wednesday

morning, they're already saying that that will be delayed at least until thursday, but no formal announcement whether or not we're going to get that on thursday, but by the way, when stocks begin trading, the refineries you want to watch, hess, phillips, new star, the companies that had to shut down operations at the east coast, as they hand it back to you, the trading floor, remember, while we have the treasury, the interest rate complex trading today on the floor, the s&p 500 futures pit which is usually off to the corner trading today, not today. along with the stock market, stock index futures, closed for trading, both pit session and electronics. >> and before, sandra, before i let you go. what you said about stock piles and inventories, all right, that seems like it could spark a huge spike in the price of oil and gasoline, at least gasoline, is that possible. >> absolutely, we're waiting for the reality of the situation, and remember, the immediate response that we saw yesterday was a pop in gasoline prices because of the closures and oil prices went down because that

meant the refineries would demand less of it. we're seeing the opposite trade today. and charles, the traders trying to digest the overall damage and they're trying to assess the storm. so we're going to watch closely here because they're going to be volatile markets as the day and week progresses. >> i appreciate it, i want to go back to jeff flock and he continues to monitor hurricane sandy, from new jersey. and how is it going now. >> listening to the governor, charles, i tell you, i think he's dead on when he says that fema is going to be here for literally months. that would be characteristic after major hurricane damage and even homes that aren't terribly damaged like this one, look, you've got sand that's piled up, the other side of this, the sand comes up almost to the windows, it's, it's incredible and you know, if you have any perspective issues on the sand, this is actually a parking meter which you can see and as you can imagine it's not like for a

kiddy car, it actually goes down there a little way and you're going to dig two feet before you find any kind of, you know, roadway at all, which is down there. and just before we get away, you know, this is characteristic of the end of each of the streets. it's characteristic, there's all of this debris that's been pushed up here and if you look off out into the distance and see the atlantic. it was all about the surge, it was all about the surge and that's what has done all the damage here and the water remains in a the lot of communities, a lot of areas of point pleasant beach where we are, a lot of people still flooded because the flood waters have not gone down yet. i think there's more to come, more to come. charles: jeff flock, we'll get another check on it with adrian gre green. it seems like the work is over, but is this the case? this storm is still on the move, isn't it? >> yeah, it is still on the move

and the worst is over across a good churning of the nation and nasty weather conditions especially on the western side of the storm, the the storm situated right now across central pennsylvania and you can see that the heavier rain bands are goose western pennsylvania and in ohio and the snowy side of things, snow in parts of ohio and even extending to kentucky and west virginia and maryland getting in heavy snow there. some locations are already topping over two feet with the snow totals and are certainly going to see more of the snow coming down as the day wears on. wind is still going to be an issue here across many locations as well and gusting at times, 30 to 40 miles per hour, and like i said, the heavier rain bands will be on the western side of the storm, and still we'll see more snow here today. and still can't rule out a little wet weather across parts of new england and extending down the i-95, but certainly, the worst is over and sandy's

moisture is going to continue to lift northward today and weaken. so the worst is behind us, but we still have a long way to go especially with all the recovery. >> adrienne green, thank you, very very much. echoing that theme the new york stock exchange expects a normal start to the trading day tomorrow. and perhaps the worst is over. the new york stock exchange will be open for trading, two days the first time since 1888 the markets has been closed this long because of a weather situation, obviously, good news. right now, i want you to check out the scene, it's in atlantic city, new jersey, and where the streets are underwater, and governor christie earlier saying it's going to take a while to assess the damage there and to repair it all over the state. fema is going to play a major role in that, in this part and also others, we are going to have a lot of examples for you, we're also still waiting on the damage update from new york city mayor mike bloomberg, we're going to take you to it live as

soon as it starts.

>> the new york stock exchange will open tomorrow for a normal day of trading and our charlie gasparino reported there was a conference call at the top of the hour, among market participants and they decided to open the markets tomorrow. they're closed today, it's a rare occurrence by the way, to have the markets closed for four straight days. and the reports that damage to

the trading floor were false and there's no damage that will affect trading. even though the markets are closed, ford reports earnings, net profit of 2.2 billion dollars in the quarter, much better than analysts were expecting and come back in 90 seconds. we're going to get back into politics and the presidential campaign and we're also waiting for the the press conference from new york city mayor mike bloomberg. 0t[h7 i'm a conservative investor.

i invest in what i know. i turned 65 last week. i'm getting married. planning a life. there are risks, sure. but, there's no reward without it. i want to be prepared for the long haul. i see a world bursting with opportunities. dia, china, brazil, ishares, small-caps, large-caps, ishares. industrials. low cost. every dollar counts. ishares. income. dividends. bonds. i like bonds. ishares. commodities. diversification. choices. my own ideas. ishares. i want to use sameme stuff the big guys use. ishares. 9 out of 10 large, professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. introducing the ishares core, etfs for the heart of your portfolio. taefficient and low cost building blocks to help you keep more of what you earn. call your advisor. visit ishares.com. ishares. yeah, ishares. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing.

. stuart: breaking news now, we're awaiting a news conference for an update from new york city mayor mike bloomberg and we're going to take it to you live as it happens. guys, obviously, a lot of people on pins and needles on this. a lot at stake. we talked about the new york stock exchange, this is the economic center of the world, really, and it's come to a stand still. >> people forget it's an island and so much of manhattan, particularly that area where the financial business is taken care of, is very close to the water. and i don't think anybody was expecting the surge. when i was reporting it at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, we're expecting a surge of 7 feet. it turned out to be closer to 14 feet. it was double and higher than it's ever been recorded in manhattan and that's what's affected. >> the big word reporting, and continuing to test the backup plan for stock trading and added backup fuel to continue operations. so, it looks like they're

getting things square possibly for an opening that may be skittish at the owning. >> i tell you, so much pent up stuff, right? we've had a lot of economic data and earnings postponed and probably an avalanche of stuff in the morning. >> it could be a fascinating. think of individual stocks, you've been reporting the ford earnings much better than expected. what's going to happen on the opening of ford. and apple, the downdraft of applebee low 600 one point intraday trading. what's going to happen, people going to jump in or-- >> and then the adp jobs. and former president clinton-- before that, we've got robert gray, want to go to you. sorry about that, what's going on out there? >> hey, charles, thanks so much. well, a little bit of a calm right here where i am in battery park and our producer katherine glass made a foray up to the corner of wall and broad and the new york stock exchange, was just outside and we have some

videotape what's going on there. some sludge and oil there actually on the street as well. the cobble stones of course right there in the financial district that many people know very well. and obviously, it's been closed, and she talked to the security guard and he said there was never any danger of it flooding out and that's some of the rumors swirling around last night on twitter and other social media feeds that i saw as well, but those were refuted and the security guard saying indeed the water line did get up to the southernmost check point just behind the new york stock exchange, but that of course, a nice slope downhill if you you think about the contour of the land of the new york stock exchange on broad, at 15 broad across the street, some folks had evacuated out of that building yesterday and on friday even to leave. though it wasn't a mandatory evacuation, a lot of people had. we talked to people who were going to ride out the storm yesterday and there were plenty of provisions and shops open, it

wasn't in the evacuation. and battery park, they're putting back things together. a record surge about 14 feet, charles, breaking the record in 1960 and came up to where i'm standing on the patio and went through the glass over here around the corner some sand bags there and went inside the building and caused about a half million dollars worth of damage the owner is estimating now and quite a bit of damage and see the big tree behind me, charles, one on the neighboring property snapped off, the top part of that. the branches lying on the promenade, it wasn't underwater once again today, but we've seen the water starting to pull back a little bit as we passed high tide just a little past 9 a.m. eastern time. charles: you know, robert, i'm not sure if karen was able to take a peek while she was up there at the trains situations. it's one thing to have the new york stock exchange open, it's another to get people down there so they can do their jobs. >> yeah, they've got to get the trains open and we know that

they did have a lot of extensive water damage and water penetration into the subway system last night. and of course, behind me you would of course see a the lot of ferries coming from staten island, from over in new jersey, also in long island city and brooklyn. none of that waterway traffic is happening today. we've seen a couple of police boats, the coast guard cutter out there, but have not seen any passenger traffic, obviously, the winds are still kicking up from time to time. very unpredictable weather and certainly the water is a lot choppier today and as we've noted the current opposite direction as the wind has circled and done a 180 from yesterday's tides. also, not power down here either. we should point out. we have a light here, our own power that we're generating ourselves so we're not seeing any power whatsoever. charles: robert gray, down in battery park, lower manhattan. thanks a the lot, we appreciate it. and joining us now by phone is john ma with the port authority of new york and that's the agency in charge of most

interstate bridges and tunnels. john, thanks a lot for taking out the time. you know, we talk about people and we were discussing people getting to the new york stock exchange and other places in the city, and how realistic is it that tomorrow morning people will be able to travel, particularly from new jersey into new york? >> well, right now, we're assessing the condition at each of our facilities and in close coordination with power governor's offices. we did sustain significant flooding at the several of our assets overnight, but again, as i said, we have engineers on the site at each facility this morning as we speak, and hoping to -- hoping to get them open when we can and do so safely. charles: hurricane sandy has been characterized as a very unique storm in many ways. the damage that we're seeing, and we've had some of it on the screen as you were speaking. can you say that this damage is unique as well? are you guys prepared for all the things you're seeing so far? >> well, i will say it's

extremely significant, you know, we'd have to go back and check to go to say it's historic, but it's extremely significant flooding, for example, the holland tunnel for us and the world trade center site in lower manhattan, governor cuomo was there last night surveying, surveying the situation at the world trade center site, we had significant flooding into the construction space and at the holland tunnel, we had flooding. flooding at the holland tunnel for a moment, now, has been a known vulnerability for us, but i think the levels we're seeing are very, very high. charles: john ma from the port authority of new york and new jersey, thanks a lot, we appreciate it. now, we're still waiting on the news conference from mike bloomberg, the mayor of new york city, we'll bring it live to you when it happens, as it happens. more after this.

>> officials say a fire destroyed at least 80 homes in a new york city borough of queens. joining us now at breezy point is stacy from wnyw. >> yeah, hi. the conditions are pretty rough out here right now.

the rain continues to come down, but the real devastation obviously all of the homes. some 50 homes we know burned to the ground here overnight and very difficult for firefighters to get to them because of severe flooding. i want to show you all the houses, 50 houses burned and damaged, ripped awnings, downed fences and downed trees and what you kind of caught us in the middle of now is a whole new influx of emergency responders coming in here. a lot of them actually suiting up in scuba gear because the water is so deep, three to five feet of water between all of these homes and they still need to help the people who chose not to evacuate and still need to help those people get out of here, so, it's really a mess this morning and-- (siren sounding) >> painful for a lot of people who lost their homes and who now are trying to clean up the damage. a lot going on and i'll throw it

back to you. charles: i think the fire truck horn said it all. more on the hurricane after the break. >> announcer: you never know when, but thieves can steal your identity and turn your life upside down. >> hi. >> hi. you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> you just read my mind. >> announcer: just one little piece of information and they can open bogus accounts, stealing your credit, your money and ruining your reputation. that's why you need lifelock to relentlessly protect what matters most... [beeping...] helping stop crooks before your identity is attacked. and now you can have the most comprehensive identity theft protection available today... lifelock ultimate. so for protection you just can't get anywhere else, get lifelock ultimate. >> i didn't know how serious identity theft was until i lost my credit and eventually i lost my home. >> announcer: credit monitoring is not enough, because it tells you after the fact, sometimes as much as 30 days later.

with lifelock, as soon as our network spots a threat to your identity, you'll get a proactive risk alert, protecting you before you become a victim. >> identity theft was a huge, huge problem for me and it's gone away because of lifelock. >> announcer: while no one can stop all identity theft, if criminals do steal your information, lifelock will help fix it, with our $1 million service guarantee. don't wait until you become the next victim. you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock now to get two full months of identity theft protection risk free. that's right, 60 days risk-free. use promcode: gethelp. if you're not completely satisfied, notify lifelock and you won't pay a cent. order now and also get this shredder to keep your documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 dollar value, free. get protected now. call the number on your screen or go to lifelock.com to try lifelock protection risk free for a full 60 days. use promo code: gethelp.

plus get this document shredder free-- but only if you act right now. call the number on your screen now! >> the firemen and police officers are so caring and shutting down the surrounding block. to see this thing swing so precariously. racing to get this thing down. that is utmost importance. carnegie hall is also across the street. >> the great thing about new york is we always come back, no matter what they do well. when we were the revolutionary war when we were the hardest hit city to now. we always find a way of coming back. that is the proverbial sword of